Thursday, September 26, 2013

Wildefire- Karsten Knight

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her.

But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own

Mini Review

I had to order Wildfire off of amazon because my local B n N did not have it. I was looking forward to it because I LOVE mythology and was really interested in the concept that the kids in the book we are from different Pantheons and ethnicities. This book did not disappoint. I very much enjoyed it.

Was it a little clichéd with the private school motif and the kids who get drunk, have sex and get in trouble? Very much so, but the plot line was solid, the characters well developed and the writing good.

I had a bit of a hard time relating to Ashline, I mean I have a pretty bad temper, but hers was ridiculous, even as the Goddess Pele. She would have been arrested but basically curb checking some poor girl, all because of a stupid high school boy? Also she seemed to have that allure where every hot guys wants here…which I find unrealistic… Yes THAT is what I found unbelievable, not the reincarnated Gods stuff. Though I did love that she was an adopted Polynesian girl, it allowed for some diversity in the almost all white world of Young Adult.

I had to do some research on the Gods that the author used, I was happy to find I didn’t recognize some, which allows me to learn more about mythology. Though I was disappointed that the author chose to use Isis, instead of a lesser known semi Death/Underworld Goddess like… Beletseri (Summarian).

The end was a twist and a cliff hanger and one where I was like, “What? HELL NO!” I am too broke to buy it but I can’t wait to read the sequel….